JJOIE DE VIVRE
Get outside! Life lived in Grand style
WHAT COULD be simpler or more pleasurable than an old-fashioned picnic? In my family, it is a Father’s Day tradition to take in a matinee at the Stratford festival preceded by a lovely picnic. My sister provides the homemade goodies, although we all contribute something, and we bring along a game of horseshoes for some good-natured competition. (Mother’s Day would work, too!)
In our fast-paced world, the simple pleasures can be a lost art. Perhaps picnics are a lost art as well. When we do take to the great outdoors for a meal, we are tempted to grab some takeout at the grocery store or fast-food. But with a little planning, we can rekindle warm memories of a homemade outdoor repast, or create new ones.
Family time or even a romantic afternoon spent over
a picnic cloth laid by a lake or river can be a truly wonderful time when done with gorgeous “vintage style.” Your next summer party would be the ideal time to revive this lost tradition — ask everyone to bring their own version of a picnic and exchange lunches. Bring along old-fashioned lawn games such as horseshoes, badminton or croquet or even fly a kite.
Pack up your picnic in a classic wicker basket complete with china, glasses and all that you need for a sumptuous spread. Take time to fish, read or just look at fluffy clouds and enjoy the outdoors on a lazy, sunny afternoon.
Rediscover the joys of using real film with Lomography cameras. With an almost cult-like following, Lomography is the result of a group of Viennese students who in the early 1990s discovered by accident the Lomo LC-A, a toy camera with a plastic lens, originally produced in St. Petersburg, Russia. The students were immediately smitten with the colour-saturated and sometimes blurry images produced by these cameras, making snapshots an art form with “dreamlike,” less-than-perfect results.
Since that time, a Lomography art movement has evolved. The Lomographic Society has been established and there are stores, galleries, competitions and a website where Lomographers can share experiences, techniques and photos and also purchase the various camera models, each using different kinds of film and producing a unique effect.
The recently released La Sardina model, a wide-angle lens camera that takes 35-mm film and is available with or without a flash attachment, is based on a vintage sardine can, perfect for the beach or picnic.
Diana F+ with flash uses 120-mm film and is perhaps the most iconic. It was the camera used by Andy Warhol in the 1960s.